B is for Beth

Beth Revis is a soon-to-be published author and my second guest for the special edition 7-SS series, Back to School A-Z.


POP QUIZ!

The thing I like most about Beth is

a) she teaches high school
b) she's a Mac fanatic
c) she lives in one of my favorite states
d) she's hilarious
e) she has excellent taste in books
f) her author blog
g) her blog about writing
h) all of the above.

(If y'all guessed anything except h, you're fired.)

Beth's debut novel, Across the Universe, will be released in spring of 2011.

In the novel, set in the near future, a teenager is cryogenically frozen only to thaw too soon, before arriving at the new planet that's her destination. Set to wake 300 years in the future, She rouses 50 years too early, still on a spaceship in transit.

Step #1
LIGHTNING ROUND

• music or gym class? Music! Specifically, piano
• high school or college? College. SO much more fun than high school, which was just drama and stress
• school lunch or sack lunch?  Sack. Although my people called it a bag lunch
• crayons or markers? Sharpies
• first crush: Is way too embarrassing to talk of.
• favorite subject: literature and history
• favorite teacher: Mrs. Washburn, tenth grade English teacher

Step #2
TELL US about any of your weird writing habits or idiosyncracies. (ie, What’s one “thing” you need to write, the thing without which the creative juices would cease to flow?)

Don’t really have any idiosyncracies if the writing is going well…but if I get stuck, going on a long drive usually helps.

Step #3
TEACH US one or two of your favorite vocabulary words.

“Apropos” which means “appropriate,” but sounds cool. As in: Ninja-kicking the old man in the face was certainly not apropos.

Step #4
BOOK BLANKS

• The last book I finished reading was Paranormalcy byKiersten White
• I gave ita bazillion stars.
• One word to describe it is kickass.

Step #5
QUESTION: What's your favorite school-age memory?

My fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Pearson, read a story I wrote about a unicorn to the whole class—I felt so special, and it made me think my writing was worthwhile.

Step #6
QUESTION:What effect did school (elementary through college/grad school) have on your writing?

Elementary school taught me that I loved stories—reading and writing them.

High school taught me that while I loved stories—reading and writing them—I probably would never be able to make a living at it, and I should get a degree in something sensible so I could get a decent day job.

College taught me that I didn’t care that I’d need a decent day job, I wanted to write anyway.

Step #7
GIVE US THE SCOOP. Tell us something about yourself that’s exclusive to In Search of Giants (ie, has never been publicized in print or podcast interviews.)

Hmmm… Jordan was my favorite New Kid on the Block.

TOMORROW: Charles Gramlich